Kuwaiti authorities will deport without trial 17 Egyptians and six Syrians after they were involved in a mass brawl over a commercial dispute, an information ministry official said Tuesday.

The official denied media reports that the men were being deported after allegedly beating up a Kuwaiti citizen. The reports had also put the number of Egyptians at 18.

“The men participated in brawl and damaged vehicles in an industrial area near Kuwait City,” the information ministry official told AFP.

“There was no (Kuwaiti) citizen involved in the case,” he said, requesting anonymity.

Citing a security source, Al-Anbaa newspaper reported on Tuesday that the interior ministry had begun procedures to cancel the men’s residency permits and deport them. Their families were also to be deported.